


why do small vocalizing chirpbeasts suddenly appear (ev'ry time you are near)

by oncewewerezombies



Series: Pretty (blue) hoofbeast cavalcade [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Prequel, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 05:17:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8274260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oncewewerezombies/pseuds/oncewewerezombies
Summary: Like a pale bolt of lightning, and you'll never be the same.
An exploration of events mentioned in Chapter 6!





	

==> Be the sweating blueblood wriggler

It was really very foolish of you to go off the beaten path. You are no sort of woodstroll, and you should have really known better. But you had heard that there was a herd of hoofbeasts with some intriguing coat colourations in the forest not too far distant from your hive, so you had disregarded the whuffling protests of your lusus and ventured forth. You're very STRONG, there isn't anything in the forest that could possibly harm you. Well. Older trolls, maybe but you're still mostly confident in your strength and if you have to, you suppose you can hit someone.

You'd really rather not. You don't enjoy it. You can't even seem to touch your lusus without bruising him and ever since you realised it, it's caused you all kinds of disquietude, even if you hide it, even if your lusus pretends that it does not matter, that being STRONG is far more important than his bruises. It is only a recent understanding, even if you've known ever since you were old enough to start using cups that being STRONG could sometimes be an inconvenience. That was somewhere around the two sweep mark, even if you hadn't understood quite at that point that not every other troll only had to tighten their grip a fraction to have the glass shatter in their hand and the milk go everywhere, all over you, all over the floor. You _hate_ mess. It upsets you. Angers you. And you make a lot of messes.

You are angry so much of the time. 

Eventually, you've had to admit that you had lost yourself in the woods and you had no idea what way it was back to your hive, and that it was midnight and you had come far enough that you were now unsure if you would reach your hive before sunrise. Everyone knows what happens at sunrise. You may only be three sweeps old (almost four, but you're not wrigglerish enough to make a point of saying so, not out loud, and barely even to yourself - facts are facts after all and you're not four _yet_ ), but you are very certain that you are not _stupid_. In fact, considering some of the other trolls your age you'd spoken to in the schoolfeeding forums, you think you're very _smart_.

Also a lot more polite. And more respectful of the hemospectrum. You've spoken to Aurthour about it, and you'd both had to wonder what the lusii of these other trolls were teaching them. _Nothing good._

You can feel the uneasy squirm of something unhappy and anxious (you are not _afraid_ ) in your stomach, and you are not going to cry. That is not behaviour befitting of your blood, you know that, you need to control yourself. Maybe it was this way to go back to your hive. At this point, you'd even settle for just finding your way out of the forest, away from all these horrible trees. You choose a direction and keep walking. Eventually, you have to find your way out, the trees can't go on forever.

You haven't even spotted one hoofbeast to make all of this, the scratches and the sore feet and your terribly unhappy stomach, worthwhile. You're thirsty and hungry, and you really. _You really just want your lusus_.

It's about this time that you blunder through the thick veil of brush and fall down a cliff.

When you land after a gaspingly terrifying and excruciatingly long moment of free fall, your ankle goes _click-CRUNCH_ , and agony shoots up your leg. At this point, you do cry, blue tinted tears squeezing from the corners of your eyes. You try to make sure it's quiet and mostly inaudible as you hold your hands around your painful ankle, trying not to press down too hard and make it worse, but you can't stop yourself from crying and you don't think Aurthour could be disappointed in you for doing so. It really, really hurts. You don't even know how you did it, you've never broken anything before and you're so far from your hive, you really don't know how you're going to get back there before the sun rises. You'll admit it now. You are frightened. You're lost and hurt, and you want your lusus and your hive and you've never going to leave them again, even if the cerulean across the chasm creeps you out on a regular basis. Her lusus is the worst, and yours is the best, and you want Aurthour _right now_.

The bushes near you rustle and you tense, move your hands up into a position like the boxabarians you'd seen on the Alternianet fighting schoolfeed channels, and tried to look tough. And unappetizing. Hopefully it's something small, and you can frighten it off. You _really_ don't like killing things - it's the mess. You can't manage a bow yet, so it means you have to use your hands. It's probably something that you should consider beneath your dignity (it feels so distasteful, so messy, you hate it, you don't want to hurt things and you're so afraid that this makes you less of a troll).

You really hope whatever is making that noise doesn't try to fight you.

==> Be the MIGHTY HUNTRESS

How can you not be the mighty huntress? You're always the mighty huntress! You are the _mightiest_ huntress in all Alternia! 

With your lusus at your side, there's not a beast out there that you do not have the ability to devour! The furocious Nepeta Leijon and the amazingly awesome Pounce de Leon, an indefatigable duo on search for the fountain of cute! Although usually, you just settle for hunting for food. Hunting is your favourite game to play, but it's VERY SERIOUS too. You've managed to lay claim to a not inextensive amount of forest around your cave, and you don't plan on giving any of it up. For some reason, the delivery drones don't really like delivering to your cave-hive. Maybe they get lost? You have an allowance from the Empire that is determined by your blood colour like any other troll wriggler, but you don't really get to use any of it. The last time you got a delivery was your husktop and some clothes when you were two and a little bit. At the moment, all those credits are just piling up somewhere, you suppose, and you actually get most of your food and other things from your own efforts. 

You're not really bothered. You keep yourself and Pounce more than fed, and the last set of clothes you ordered still fit, more or less. The legs are a little short for your pants and they leave your ankles bare above the line of your also-too-small sneakers, but you suppose that eventually the delivery drones will start arriving with the orders you've made over the Alternianet. You're...pretty sure you haven't been charged for them. Your credit balance doesn't show any deductions. Hmm. Possibly you should check that and make sure, sometime. In the meantime, you are more than capable of looking after yourself, with Pounce's assistance, of course!

Hunting is both fun and rewarding, in so many ways.

You've been tracking a herd of hoofbeasts which for some reason had moved closer to the forest, into it, in fact. It's a little surprising, most hoofbeast herds stick to the plains but you just got lucky, you guess. They're a lot of meat on the hoof, you could use one good kill to set you up for a few nights. You're really in favour of trying something a little new, and you've been trying to divert them into Pounce's paws in an ambush all evening. Things have not gone according to plan, or you'd already be chowing down on fillet of hoofbeast. You're bushed, pawnestly! But you're planning on giving things one last try before going back hive and contenting both of you with a saved haunch of beefgrub for dinner, you're pretty sure it hasn't gotten _too_ ripe that you'll spend the next few nights wishing you hadn't - when you hear something crash through an extensive amount of bushes.

This requires investigation, and so you go to see what made all that noise.

A furocious apex purredator should be on top of everything in her domain. Besides, who knows? It might be something to eat.

It's.

It's defurinately not something to eat.

It's a _troll_.

...and he's hurt.

You feel a flutter of _something_ you've never felt before in your chest, and you wait to see what he does. When he doesn't do anything, doesn't get up, just kinda grabs at his ankle and presses his face against his knee, you look back at Pounce. At the other troll. Back at Pounce. And you decide to move forward and reveal yourself. He's alone, after all! And. And he's hurt (is he crying? That makes the flutter _worse_ ).

Really, you're doing yourself a favour! He's going to attract every predator in five clicks. And then purrhaps, they'll have a taste for troll wriggler, something which is also you and not just him! Gasp. Gasp times two, even, maybe even three. You have to get him out of here, alive, and return him to his hive. It's your only option. It really, really is!

"Hi!"

==> Be the cause of the STRONG disturbance

Another troll pops out of the bushes at you and you flinch back, lifting your hands in STRONG fists. She. She's smiling. Why is she smiling? You scowl, and try to look fierce. She doesn't look any older than you, maybe about the same age? And smiling. She's still...smiling. Like she's not worried about you at all. There's another rustle and a lusus appears at the smaller troll's shoulder, some huge meowbeast with double mouths staring at you as though wondering what her charge is doing with you and what she should do about it. You...lower your fists. You do not want to provoke this very large and predatorily inclined lusus into deciding that you would be easier dealt with as a snack to make sure that her charge is not harmed. The troll in question is smaller than you, and scrawnier with dirt _all over her face_...you want to clean her off. Groom her.

That's. That's weird, you're sure that's weird and not what you're meant to feel like when you see another troll. 

Her clothes don't fit properly, it's concerning to you and you don't know why. They're too small, obviously, and the coat is far too big. She would look much better in clothes that fitted. If she's olive, surely she should be able to afford clothes that fit?

"I said hello, you know. You really should respawnd to people purrperly, that's only purrlite! So, what you should say meow, is hello back!"

"...technically, you said hi, you didn't say hello," you manage to say, trying to keep up with deciphering her puns. They're atrocious. She speaks in such an uncouth fashion, although by the colour of the sign on her shirt, perhaps you should not be surprised. Olive. She's mid, but on the low range of mid. She's terrible. Oh someone help you, you want to dump her in a bath and wash her hair, _what is wrong with you?_ Having those kind of thoughts about a complete stranger is so. Uncouth. And impolite, even if it's not as though she could possibly know what you're thinking. Olive isn't a blood colour known for having psionic talents, telepathic or otherwise. She has a smudge on her cheek and you want to lick your thumb and wipe it off, the urge to do so almost _vibrating_ inside you. Help. "...Greetings."

"What's your name? I'm Nepeta Leijon, and this is my lusus, Pounce!"

"Nice to meet you both, my name is Equius Zahhak," jerks out of you, almost on reflex. Just because you're in less than hospitable circumstances, doesn't mean you can't be polite. Your leg hurts so much. Is she going to cull you? She seems very friendly for a troll that would do such a thing. Maybe you deserve it for being so foalish, but you really don't want to die out here, in the woods. Aurthour would never know what happened to you. "I..." Your ankle hurts _so much_. It may be shameful, but you decide to ask for her help. It isn't as though she couldn't be aware that you must be unable to move in some way, because otherwise, the usual state of affairs between trolls meeting in situations like these would have seen you absconding over the hill in a swift fashion. Considering she was a strange troll with her lusus. And not a small lusus by any stretch of fancy. You are rather certain that if Nepeta said to eat you, the double-mouthed purrbeast would. "If you have time...would you perhoofs be able to render me some...assistance? In returning to my hive?"

Asking someone of her hemospectric status kind of chokes in your throat, but there is no one else here. And she seems friendly. Perhoofs she wouldn't simply laugh at you and then abscond, leaving you to try and crawl your way hive to safety. Or even worse, do something like tell her lusus to eat you. After the murderous antics of the cerulean across the canyon from you, you don't trust other trolls not to take advantage of your weakness. Especially one so obvious. You don't want to die, and you are unsure if you could even find your hive from here. She, on the other hand, seems quite able in navigating her way through the labyrinthine trunks and very at hive in the forest. She can help you, if she wants to. 

"Sure!" 

You blink, not one hundred per cent certain that you heard her correctly. She'd answered so quickly, so positively. No bargaining? No attempt at getting something from you? What sort of troll is she? You feel like you should warn her, that she needs to be instructed better in how to protect herself from other trolls, from those more cold blooded than she is. You're not going to hurt her, of course, you wouldn't anyway, but. You want to. Make her realise how badly things could go if she wasn't careful, to watch her step. In some way. 

"I bet I can follow your steps on the way in all the way out, so it won't be a purrblem at all!" she almost chirped, one arm around her lusus' neck before bounding forward. Pulling the enormous purrbeast with her by a grasping frond in its mane - her mane - and taking your hand without a word of asking, pulling your nerveless fingers to the double mouth. The soft milky nose. A warm breath cascades over your fingertips, and you shiver as Nepeta pets her lusus. "Mom, Equius. Equius, Mom!" She laughs, and then pulls you closer, to your feet - such as you have them - and then to lean on the coiled strength of the feline lusus. You're grateful for the support, but the warm wall of muscle you're leaning on - it moves. Immense chest rising and falling with the lusus' breathing as you try to make sure you don't lean too hard. "Just lean on Cat-Mom, and we'll walk you out." 

"...thank you." 

"Murr welcome! So what type of lusus do you have?" 

"A musclebeast," you answer, limping as you lean heavily on the strangely calm purrbeast while Nepeta flicks ahead and then bounds back, before leaping ahead again. Even as she's asking you questions, she's moving, the huge coat she's enveloped herself in barely seeming to slow her down. It's the same colour as her blood must be, but it blends into the wilderness around you in a bizarrely unsettling way. This is obviously where she belongs and you - you admire that in some strange way. At the same time, you still want to clean her up and make her presentable for more than just the woods. You want to guide her. Show her. Fit her into troll society, somehow, but at the same time, the idea of her entering as marely an oliveblood, alone, feels...wrong. You're not sure what to do about that. You don't know why you feel the way you feel. You've never felt anything like this before. Not for any troll you've met, even if you haven't met that many face to face before this. 

You talk about a few inconsequential things as she assists you back to your hive to try and distract yourself from the pain of standing, straight to your door and into the arms of your lusus. His whuffling picks up a fevered kind of pitch of concern, and you are so glad to see him that you allow yourself a momentary display of emotion. Even in front of a lower blood as Nepeta is. You bury your face against his shoulder and hold onto him, trying not to leave bruises behind in the shape of your fingerprints. His hands hold onto you just as carefully, and you can't help losing a few tears. You're so _exhausted_. You are so very, very tired. And your leg is a length of flame underneath you, with every moment you're forced to stand. 

"Thank...you?" You had turned to say good bye, to thank her for her efforts but it seemed like she had already gone while you had been reuniting with your lusus. You catch the last glimpse of her lusus bounding back to the forest, Nepeta a dark lump on her back. 

You don't think you will ever see her again. 

You are, inexplicably, somehow hurt by this thought but you push it aside to let Aurthour help you inside and then to look after your injury. 

==> Be the APEX PURREDATOR

_Cholerbear._

That's what he needs, great big cholerbear steaks. Lots of iron. Many nutrients. He needs feeding up. 

He can't be eating meat, considering the way he looked. So tired. You want to brush his hair and make him sleep, make him look after himself (what you want is to look after him _yourself_ , you want to make sure he recovers from his injury in the best way). His lusus can't be feeding him properly, or he'd look better. Obviously, you need to step into the gap. You can't just let him starve himself to death or anything like that. 

You so very carefully arrange your next kill on his lawnring. 

And the next one. 

And the _next_. 

Aarrrrrgh, he's _meant to be eating them not throwing them out, what is **wrong** with him?!_

You worked so hard too. It's not as though cholerbear is _easy_ to bring down. And there's at least a cycle's worth of meat on every one! Why isn't he eating them? You worked so hard. It's not as though cholerbear are easy to hunt, but you really want to impress him with your skills. If you didn't care, you wouldn't do anything! The rejection should really be making you feel discouraged, but you refuse to be. That flutter in your abdominal cavity, that lift in your cardiopusher, they just won't leave you alone. 

You don't know what it means, but you want to know. 

You think it's important. 

In fact, you're certain that it is. 

==> Be the horrified vegetarian

Why, why, _why_ do dead beasts keep turning up on your lawnring? 

Serket refuses to answer your near hysterical enquiries as to whether she is involved in the matter, if it's some sort of overflow from her FLARPing activities, and there is just. A stack of animal corpses on your gosh be darn grass, right in front of your hive. You are not having hysterics. You are not hysterical. You are marely very, _very_ concerned. 

Why are there multiple dead cholerbears on your lawnring? You weren't even aware that there were this many cholerbears in your vicinity. Where is whoever it is finding them? You hate to admit it, but it's slightly impressive. Just the sheer numbers. 

It's another cycle before you find out who has been leaving dead cholerbears on your lawnring and why. 

It is entirely confusing, somewhat affronting and yet also somehow, somewhat...endearing. If misguided. Then again, you suppose that your dietary preferences are relatively uncommon. Maybe even rare. 

Obviously she needs someone to show her the correct way of doing things. It is a task that you are actually considering undertaking. Someone needs to demonstrate to her how to act properly, in civilisation. She didn't even know why the hemospectrum was important, and has a very irreverent attitude towards both it and your explanations. What has her lusus been teaching her? You will marely need to ensure that she learns proper ways of behoofiour, before she runs afoul of someone less forgiving than you. 

You don't know what you would do if that happened. 

You're still unsure why you care, but you do. 

==> Be meowrails

arsenicCatnip [AC] began trolling centaursTesticle [CT] 

AC :33 < mew will nefur guess what tonight is!  
CT: D --> I might  
CT: D --> If you offered some sort of hint as to what you may be referring to  
AC :33 < guess!!!  
CT: D --> I do not like guessing  
CT: D --> You know that  
CT: D --> I prefer to be abso100tely 100% certain  
AC XDD < GUESS!  
AC :33 < just play along fur once, sweatquius, g33z  
AC :33 < i dont think that's furry much to ask  
CT: D -->Fine  
CT: D --> I believe I know what it is anyway  
CT: D --> Now that I have cons001ted a sweep count-table  
CT: D --> Is it perhoofs  
CT: D --> Something to do with a forest  
AC :33 < ahhhhh you tease!  
AC :33 < you knew!  
AC :33 < its the anniversary of the night we met fur the first time!!!  
AC X33 < thats so exciting dont you think so  
CT: D --> I suppose so  
AC :33 < admit it  
AC :PP < youre excited too!  
AC :33 < you cant fool me  
CT: D --> I w001d not dare try  
CT: D --> In all hoofnesty  
AC :33 < a whole sw33p since we met  
CT: D --> Why do I have the feeling that you will be abs001utely insufferable when we actually get to the date where we formed our moirallegiance  
AC :33 < sweatquius that is furry rude  
AC :33 < i am pawsitively adorable and not insufferable at all  
AC :33 < you should take that back immediately!!!  
CT: D --> No  
AC :33 < yes  
CT: D --> No  
AC :33 < yes  
CT: D --> No  
AC :33 < yes  
CT: D --> This is immature  
AC DDX < youre immature!  
CT: D --> This is becoming an e%ceptionally foalish conversation  
CT: D --> I think it started that way too, 100king back on things  
CT: D --> I propose a change of topic  
CT: D --> Are you planning to visit my hive in the near future  
CT: D --> Serket has been very active the last perigee or so  
CT: D --> I do not want you to become involved  
AC :33 < oh  
AC :33 < id like to come s33 you  
AC :33 < but not if its not safe  
AC :33 < meowbe you should come s33 me instead!  
AC :33 < purrhaps we can even finish what you meant to do the furst time you walked into the woods  
AC :33 < and find some hoofbeasts!  
CT: D --> That sounds  
CT: D --> Pleasant, actually  
CT: D --> Alright  
CT: D --> But you have to clean your hive  
AC :33 < *the mighty huntress would like to remind the sweaty hoofbeast of where she lives, noting to herself how hard it is to keep a cave clean, but nobly keeps her silence!*  
CT: D --> Stop  
CT: D --> Do not be such a wriggler  
AC :33 < *the furocious purrbeast continues to keep her silence*  
AC :PP < *nobly*  
CT: D --> I am not playing this game  
AC :33 < bet i will get you to one night!  
AC :33 < its really purrty fun!  
AC :33 < i still want to flarp  
AC :33 < it sounds like purrezi has fun playing it  
AC :33 < even if shes playing with vwhiskers  
CT: D --> Fun for higher bloods than you, possibly  
CT: D --> I do not want you involved  
CT: D --> I forbid you to enter one single match  
CT: D --> Do you understand, Nepeta  
AC :33 < i wasnt going to, g33z!  
AC :33 < just thought it looked like fun  
AC :33 < thats all  
CT: D --> Well  
CT: D --> As long as you are not planning to endanger yourself  
CT: D --> Then I suppose I will let the remark pass  
AC :33 < funsucker  
CT: D --> I  
CT: D --> I am not  
CT: D --> I am marely concerned for your wellbeing  
CT: D --> Like any proper moirail w001d be  
AC :33 < its ok  
AC :33 < youre a funsucker but youre my funsucker  
AC :33 < and ill fight anyone else who calls you that  
CT: D --> I appreciate the sentiment  
CT: D --> Even if I'm not sure I agree with the idea of 'anyone else'  
CT: D --> I hope you would not fight a highblood  
CT: D --> Or put yourself in danger  
CT: D --> So shall I meet you on the eve of our formal declaration of moirallegiance  
CT: D --> Perhaps somewhere on the forest edge  
AC :33 < that sounds fine!  
AC :33 < me and mom will come find you  
AC :33 < DONT GO INTO THE WOODS ALONE!!!  
AC :33 < that might have been how this all started  
AC :33 < but i dont want it to finish that way  
AC :33 < so mew just wait fur me  
CT: D --> I w001d scarcely make the same mistake twice  
CT: D --> But fine  
CT: D --> I will wait  
CT: D --> And I will see you soon  
AC :33 < <>!  
AC :33 < ooh i still get shivers  
AC :33 < <>!!!  
CT: D --> E%citable  
CT: D --> <>  
AC :33 < s33 you soon, meowrail!

arsenicCatnip [AC] ceased trolling centaursTesticle [CT]

**Author's Note:**

> Now with [fan aaart](http://chuuni-ghost.tumblr.com/post/154940677284/homestuck-secret-santa-exchange-for).
> 
> By the talented chuuni-ghost on tumblr. Blesssss.


End file.
